In the Flathead cherry orchards, small white flowers on the rows of trees mark the shift from winter to spring.
Bruce Johnson has owned and operated the Buena Vista Orchard in the Flathead for 26 years and is a board member for the Flathead Cherry Growers’ Co-Op.
He says this year’s crop is starkly different from last season’s.
“ There's fruit hanging on the trees. There's little green cherries all over the place. And last year many of the orchards did not pick a pound because there wasn't any,” Johnson says.
Weather conditions around Flathead lake create a pocket of near perfect cherry-growing temperatures in Montana. The trees are hearty, but the flowers that grow the fruit are not.
Climate change is making the weather more unpredictable. That makes it hard for growers to protect the buds on the trees from harsh conditions.
Dr. Gregory Lang is a professor emeritus in the Department of Agriculture at the University of Michigan. He studies the horticulture and physiology of fruit trees.
“So there's two really significant risks that we run with the changing climate. It's winter damage with low temperatures and it's spring frost damage because we're blooming earlier when we have buds that made it through the winter okay,” Lang says.
In a few weeks, Flathead cherries will be ripe for the picking. Johnson says the best way to get the cherries at their freshest is to take a trip to the Flathead.
“ There'll be plenty of cherries here locally in Montana and around the Flathead. And a lot of 'em are through the local cherry stands that orchardists have, you know, down on the highway,” Johnson says.
He says prime cherry season typically starts mid-July.
